Just Not Enough Hours

I figured I would be posting more often now that I found my password and all, but I guess there are other reasons for not regularly posting as well....time.....I work ALOT, and even from home sometimes.....subject matter......working so much and feeling as monetarily challenged as I do, not a lot of things are going on at the money pit these days....my better half has begun undoing the damage to the front yard from neglect....he is still getting his strength back....there are some things we will need to attend to over the winter, including the back yard which is an absolute jungle (seriously, not kidding!) and some pieces of wood and plaster which need to be repaired before they fall off the house. It will move slow, unless we win the lottery and can hire out all of these jobs.
I'm still missing my eldest daughter, but she seems to be thriving at college.....so I'm happy for her. I haven't even cleared out the huge mess she left in her room when she moved out...maybe I'll let her handle that when she is home on break......; )

I'm Adjusting, She's Adjusting

It was a bit of a rough week, but I'm doing better.....I talk/text with Gaby every day, she seems fine. No dorm mates yet....we don't know if it is due to the storm(s) or they both are just not coming......so Gaby has the dorm to herself so far. The campus is beautiful....brick buildings, old oak trees, fountains......there was just that moment when I had to leave to catch my flight back that I totally lost it......and then Gaby started crying to in response to me crying......boy, that was a tough few minutes, when I had to say "OK, I have to go.....bye honey, love you" and turn around and leave my daughter there.....I honestly don't think I had experienced anything that hard even in the passing of my parents....this was someone who I had brought into the world, watched grow up and was now not going to be a daily part of my life at home......I don't know where I pulled the strength together at that moment to walk to my car.....but I did.....and I fought back the urge to run right back in there. I sat for a moment, talked to my husband on the phone and drove off. Phew! I would have felt better if there had been a dorm mate or two, just so I wasn't leaving her alone, but Gaby has always been very independant, and I think she was relishing having the dorm to herself...
I had some long delays on the way home, both due to weather and mechanical issues, and didn't get home until 1am. The campus was being used as a shelter for evacuees, and probably will again this week. It is inland enough (6 hours north of New Orleans) that it is not in immediate danger from the hurricanes. The area was already full of evacuees Friday night, when we discovered our hotel was a complete dud and could not transfer anywhere else as they were all booked.
I feel a lot better now, she sounds good, all grown up.....classes have started, so she is becoming busy. I will plan for her travel home for the holidays....

College Time

Today is the day I take my oldest daughter to college in Louisiana.......I figured I would be pretty torn up when it was time to say goodbye, before I headed back to Tampa, but it has been really hard this morning, looking at her room all emptied out, and the suitcases piled up in the foyer......I've had this person in my everyday life for 18 1/2 years, not I will not be part of her daily life, and she will not be a part of mine....physically speaking anyway. I will not hear the pounding sounds of her music resonating from her room, or see the little drawings she does around the house, or hear her argue with her younger siblings......a major component of my daily life will be missing. I am so proud of her, and I am happy she is doing what she is doing, but it is so hard to see things change in this way. I guess I have gained a new respect for my parents in feeling a little bit of what they felt when my brother and I left the house. There is just no easy way to say goodbye to a child, knowing that when they come back to visit, it will be just that, a visit, and they will change in ways you won't realize until you see them again....growing up, maturing, gaining Independence...and you will not have been a part of thoses changes as you have been for so long......they will come from your child, and the other influences around her. I guess grown ups keep growing up too.

Seminole Heights Real Estate Recovering?

I have been watching the listings and prices in our neighborhood, and while my observations are not scientific by any means, I think I am seeing an uptick in both buying activity and prices....I use Zillow (not religiously....there are plenty of bugs) as an unofficial gauge.....it shows recently sold properties and properties for sale....my estimated value has climbed almost $100K over the past couple of months....for awhile it had the lowest estimated value in the area, which didn't make sense to me since we have a double lot. Again, Zillow is NOT an accurate valuation tool, but you can sort of pick up on trends by looking at the sold properties. While some properties have been on the market forever, I do see some movement, and if something is priced right, it sells, unlike the way it had been for awhile where nothing was selling no matter what the price was. My next door neighbor has put his house on the market again at a lower price....I will be curious to see what happens and when. I wish him luck.....
I received our TRIM notice this week, and I was quite happy with it....almost $2K down from last year. That's a lot of wood!

Loooong Time

I have neglected to post for a couple reasons; the 1st being that I have been so consumed by my work that I have not had the chance to breath.....the 2nd being that in being so consumed by my work, nothing much has happened to write about (except a couple things...I will mention) and the 3rd and most embarrassing, I kind of lost my log in information, and never got around to recovering it so that I could sign on and post......

In the past few months, bedsides working insane hours at my bank, I have dealt with my husband being extremely sick......some mysterious infection which caused a 30 lb weight loss in a short amount of time....compounded by his bad knee, he spent 5 days in the hospital, and is still, a month later getting daily IV antibiotics. During this time, I had to bring my good old buddy Louie, a 15 year old cocker spaniel in to be put down......which was extremely difficult, but I am glad I was in there with him........

My husband is better, I still miss Louie, and I am still slammed at work, trying to hire someone currently, which should help, but until then, I might as well bring a pillow in. I can't complain though, I am happy to be in the role I am....many people are not.

Today is my birthday...so my gift to myself is to take a few minutes to myself and type about myself....selfish, heh?

Due to my schedule and my husband's illness, my house is a disaster area, my back yard has been reclaimed by weeds and vines and the front yard needs attention in a big way...we will deal with these items....one by one......I had started mulching the back yard and planting some trees as "anchors" planning on putting pathways into the mulch....I can't even see mulch right now.....2 /3rds of the yard had been mulched, but the weeds have covered it....I'm told some round up and a weed wacker will restore my mulch to it's former glory...not so sure, but we'll see. The Japanese plum and rubber trees we planted are doing well back there...albeit a little diminished in the tangle of weeds. Maybe I will have another porch party and make it a "weed the backyard" party....bring your garden gloves and I will provide beer!
Time to climb back onto the hamster wheel.......I now have my password, so I will post again and not wait 6 months........